Drying Laundry Indoors Is Unhealthy

(Newser)
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Got allergies or asthma? You may want to avoid drying your clothes inside your home: A study finds that many households suffer from too much moisture, and laundry is to blame for up to a third of the damp, the BBC reports. "Going into people's homes, we found they were drying washing in their living rooms, in their bedrooms," a researcher in Scotland says. "Some were literally decorating the house with it. But from just one load of washing, two liters of water will be emitted."

Some 87% of the 100 homes in the study dried laundry indoors when it was cold out. Three-quarters of the households had enough moisture to spawn dust mites. Indoor laundry drying was also linked to the growth of mold spores; some 25% of the homes hosted a type of mold that can cause lung infections. Researchers have a suggestion: New homes should have special drying areas. "These spaces should be independently heated and ventilated." (Read more laundry stories.)

On the other hand, in dry places (and in winter when homes are drier anyway because of heating) drying laundry inside could be beneficial by keeping the indoor humidity higher (closer to 50%) than it would be otherwise. Not much risk of mold in those places is there?

viva_yo

Nov 3, 2012 7:43 AM CDT

The Scots need a dryer for their HOMES, never mind the laundry. It's damned dank up there.

YetAnotherCollegeKid

Nov 2, 2012 11:24 PM CDT

Hey 'experts,' just a thought, but if you can afford a separate, heated and ventilated room, you can probably afford a damn dryer. That's the worst advice I have heard in a while.